Woo watch

This paper sounds good pic.twitter.com/C3El3czV7T
— Ben Southwood (@bswud) April 2, 2015

I had a bit of a further look into this. The paper itself is for the most part rather dull - the highlight comes as early as the first page:

I now want to have a look at this paper in which the author apparently shows Marxist economics to be on sounder foundations than neoclassical economics!

The author herself is a bit of a character. She seems to almost be a parody of the stereotypical far-left political activist. Quoting from her profile at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where she is a professor of economics:

"I... enjoy cooking and eating healthy, organic food; walking and biking; communing with nature... I am inspired by and involved with the Occupy movement."

She participates in the Cambridge Time Trade Circle, which is interesting enough to merit its own discussion independent of this person.

Among her many papers, 90% of whose titles include at least one of the words "Marxist" and "feminist" if not both, are such gems as "Spirituality and Economic Transformation" and "Why feminist, Marxist and anti-racist economists should be feminist-Marxist-anti-racist economists".

Her classes must be something of an unusual experience. She begins each lecture with a short meditation, her introductory economics course requires students to watch the film "Affluenza" and to read about "Buddhist economics".

Where do they find these people? And why on earth do these people get tenure in economics departments?